


Awakened In The Morning Hush

by NamesNamesandMoreNames



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Originals (TV)
Genre: After Originals Season 4- AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Esthers A+ Parenting, F/F, F/M, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Mikaels A+ Parenting, Past Character Death, Past Child Abuse, Resurrection, Slow Burn, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-02-15 22:26:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18678577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NamesNamesandMoreNames/pseuds/NamesNamesandMoreNames
Summary: Henrik Mikaelson is back. A thousand years ago, he stood in this town asking his brother to do something very stupid. And ten minutes ago, his bones were laid out on the forest floor as Lizzie Saltzman tried to convince her sister, Josie, to resurrect him. Something very, very stupid. But he died and apparently broke his family and the world in general. All they did was bring him back to life.





	1. Henrik I

Henrik Mikaelson stood at the boundary line, pacing, knowing, dreading what was coming. Only an hour ago he was dead. A thousand years past dead. But then the girls found his bones, they found his soul and thankfully clothes. So, he paced waiting for them to come back.

 

He came back. A thousand years ago, he stood in this town asking his brother to do something very stupid. And ten minutes ago, his bones were laid out on the forest floor as Lizzie Saltzman tried to convince her sister, Josie, to resurrect him. Something very, very stupid. But he died and apparently broke his family and the world in general. All they did was bring him back to life.

And Lizzie and Josie? They were like him. He had never met someone like him before, someone who could only channel magic. Someone mother would call a weak witch, someone they had called a siphon. They felt whatever magic that had buried him and as they pulled that up from the earth, his bones came with it.

Unlike most children, Josie didn't run from the bones-- though Lizzie had admittedly been "grossed out." So, Lizzie went back to the school and got him Salvatore sweatpants and a Mystic Grill hoodie, while Josie set up a ritual. This ritual was not a resurrection, it was a séance.  

"Hi!" Lizzie said as his eyes opened for the first time in a millennium. "Who are you?"

She was shorter than her sister, but she stood in front and smiled at him. "I'm Henrik… I-- who are you?" She smirked, it looked almost like an expression he'd seen Kol wear a hundred times before. She answered him and then she and Josie turned to talk behind a nearby tree, where he couldn't see them. But he could hear them. And soon enough they ran off leaving him standing alone, stuck in the forest.

They came back though, with candles and grimoires and bags of blood. "We're going to resurrect you!" Lizzie said a twinkle of madness coming to her eyes. He said nothing of that madness though. And they asked him questions, one after another, as they set up candles and tree branches soaked in blood around him. "So, you think it was your mothers magic we found?" Josie asked calmly, looking down at the spell. Apparently, that would make it much easier, blood or magic of a relative would make it easier. He told them about his mother and Ayana and Kol, the only people in the village that practiced magic. He didn't tell them it was probably Kol. He didn't want them to know his mother and her friend thought having such weak magic returned to the earth would weaken them, too.

And it was Kol. So it worked.

He could hear Lizzie approaching, "Come on, daddy!" she sounded so excited, proud though he couldn't understand why. The man that Lizzie pulled with her was tall, he had sandy blond hair and a strange bow held up on his shoulder.

"Hello." He seemed calm but Henrik could see the caution in his stance. It reminded him of Nik, careful not to provoke a response from their father. It was strange to think this man was scared of him. "My name is Alaric, I'm the headmaster at the Salvatore School. You’re a warlock?"

"I…" He was unsure how to respond, he had never heard of a warlock before. "A witch?"

"A guy witch!" Lizzie said smiling at her father excitedly. "A warlock!"

Henrik shook his head. "I thought you said I was a siphon.?"

She still doesn't look at him. "See! Hope isn't the only one that can bring in people. I can, too. We don't need that stupid globe!"

"Do you have a name?" Alaric asked.

Josie answered appearing from behind her sister silently. "He's Henrik." And he could practically see their father turn to stone.

"We should move this discussion to my office." He said slowly, motioning him in the direction they had come from.

"I--"

"He can't the border stopped him, that’s why we needed to bring you here," Josie said, almost worried.

Henrik saw him close his eyes. "Your mother, what was her name?"

"Esther"

"Yeah, I guess we're calling the sheriff for this one." he pulled out bright blue light and started tapping at it. "Emma will drop the wards for him after we talk to his family."

"But he was dead!" Lizzie said exasperated. "His family is probably dead, too!" Henrik stepped back. No, they couldn't be dead.

"We will be talking about the fact that he was dead later," Alaric said poorly masked annoyance in his voice. He started ushering them along the border until they got to the fence and eventually a paved road where a car met them. A blond man stood in front of the flashing blue and red lights with two women who Henrik could already see were witches, though one looked about his age.

 "What is she doing here? This is our find! This has nothing to do with her." But Henrik, somehow, knew she was wrong. Her magic was pouring into the air and it made Henrik's nerves stand on edge. It was her magic, but it was also his mother's magic, his brother's magic, his family's magic. This girl had a connection to the magic he had wanted all his life.

"Hello," he said to her before anyone could interrupt him this time. "I'm Henrik."

"Hope Marshall" She nodded and he could tell she was tired. But he could almost see his sister in her eyes when she smiled anyway.

* * *

When they said his family he did not picture the three women that sat with him now. Hope, who was apparently Nik's daughter, Hayley, who was apparently Elijah's lover (or Nik's?) and Freya, the long lost sister he never knew. "I don't think I understand, where are my siblings? No offense, it's just -- I don't know you."

"It should be about five on the west coast but I could try to FaceTime Uncle Kol?" Hope shrugged looking over at Freya. "Or we could try astral projection?"

"What about the others?"

"We could get Rebekah on the phone," Freya added.

"Not Elijah or Nik or Finn? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Hayley said. They were sitting in a room with bright lights and soft chairs that were more comfortable than his families entire shack.

Hope looks up at the ceiling, “A lot.” she lowered her head, closing her eyes. This was Nik's kid, he'd seen him do that just yesterday, anytime he felt guilty about... anything.

He felt strangely protective of the girl, even if she looked a few years older than him and held herself in a way that made it clear she knew she was the most powerful person in her village. She held herself like his mother. "I'm sure it's not as bad as you think."

The women's eyes meet over Hope's head, he wishes he could know what they were thinking. "I think we should take you to Rebekah? It'd probably be best to hear it-- everything-- from someone you know" Hayley said looking back at him biting her lip.

"Are they dead?" He had hoped, after the twins said something about them being unkillable, that they'd all have managed to stay alive.

"Finn is dead, I'm sorry," Freya told him calmly. Henrik took a deep breath and tried not to cry. Finn was dead but Father wouldn't excuse the tears, he never had before. He couldn't remember the last time he spoke to Finn, he had been hunting with their father the week before his death and he was never one to greet Henrik. Niklaus had hugged him and Rebekah upon returning, Elijah asked what they had been doing while they were away, and Kol had messed with Henrik's hair and commented on Rebekah's crush. Finn just stood there.

How could that be the last memory he had of his brother? Why hadn't he talked to Finn?

"I'm going to call Rebekah?" Hope said despite not moving from her seat. She looked uncomfortable.

There was a long silence, letting him mourn someone who was arguably his worst brother, but a good brother none the less. "Elijah?" He hoped they'd tell him, that it'd be a simple answer.

"He's alive," Hayley said.

"It's complicated" Hope corrected.

"He's alive, but it's unlikely he'd remember you. Elijah decided to... forget everything for the safety of the family"

His eyebrows furrowed. "Okay... What about Nik?"

Silence. There weren't even comments of complications or death, which in a way worried him more. Hope's eyes dropped to her hands, shame covered her face. It was Freya who answered. "We don't really know what's going on with Klaus."

"Oh…"

"It's my--"

Hayley interrupted her daughter, "There was a spell that-- they all wanted to protect Hope."

"I'm sorry," Hope's voice is so small he almost doesn't hear it.

"No- it's… You're family." Henrik shakes his head quickly. "I-- Always and Forever."

Her eyes meet his and it is never more clear that this blue mirrors Nik's perfectly. "Always and Forever." she nods.

* * *

Kol, despite that he was well over a thousand years old, looked younger than Henrik remembered. While Rebekah looked older-- no, mature. 

"Shit, you weren't lying…" Kol said circling him, trying to make sure that this wasn't some trick of the light.

"Of course they weren't lying, you idiot." Rebekah glared at Kol but her eyes immediately soften when they shifted over to him. "I-- are you okay?"

Henrik opens his mouth to answer, before being interrupted by Kol. "That’s such a stupid question. Is he okay? He died! Of course, he's not okay."

"Actually--"

"You're projecting your death on to his! Let him answer." This time Rebekah interrupted him.

"Kol died?"

Hope chuckled with a false smile. "Twice."

"The first time was sort of Nik's fault and the second was completely Finn's doing." Kol moved around the room avoiding eye contact with any of them.

Freya grimaced, "I'd really appreciate it if you stayed still. Astral projection is hard enough as it is."

"Hope seems to be doing fine." He rolled his eyes and kept pacing around the room. He wasn't wrong, while Freya had her face stoned and determined to stay in control, Hope barely seemed tense. "Wait." Kol stopped in his tracks, turning to look directly at Henrik. "The Other Side is gone! Where have you been?"

Henrik shrugged looking down at his arms, seeing the newly formed scares that were scattered up them and all the way through his torso to his neck. "I just died and woke up…"

"I thought the Forbes twins resurrected him?" Rebekah looked over at Hope for answers, as if Henrik wouldn't know the answer about his own resurrection.

"Saltzmans, yeah, Josie and Lizzie," Hope told her.

"So there was just nothing? For a thousand years?" Kol looked terrified at the prospect.

Henrik didn't understand why. "It's like… I lost time. It was like sleep."

Kol nodded a bit calmer. "Okay…" He goes back to pacing around the room.

"What now?" Henrik asked. "Where do I go now?"

Silence seeped into the room; it seems no one was thinking that far ahead.

Rebekah looked to Freya. "New Orleans?"

"I don't know how Vincent would like a Mikaelson being in the city full time. And I don't know how comfortable he'd be with me. I am his sister but he doesn't really know me." She shrugged. Henrik nodded. She was right. Freya looked over at Kol. "Could you--"

"Davina and I aren't exactly up to raise a 13-year-old? I mean we're in India now, and Greece next month. Don't you think New York--?" Kol prattled on trying to get out of this situation. Henrik's heart couldn't help but sink in his chest. None of them want him, they had all moved on with their lives, and he couldn't fit there anymore.

"Guys. The Salvatore School." Hope looked confused at they're bickering as if that was the obvious answer.

"School seems a bit like throwing him into the wolves of the 21st century…" Rebekah said. Henrik flinched wondered if the phrasing was purposely connected to his death.

"More so than New York? Or New Orleans? Or a plane ride to wherever Kol is?"

"He…" Freya shifted in her seat. "I know that you want to be more connected to family, but you have to understand how overwhelming this might be for him."

"But--" she went to defend her plan.

And Henrik interrupted her. "She seems to be the only one who wants to… deal with me. It's not as if any of you are volunteering to be…" He was trying so hard not to sound bitter or pained and he has a sinking feeling in his gut telling him that his face was betraying him.

"I don't know what school is…" he said changing the conversation.

Hope's head tilted in confusion, as Kol nodded in understanding. "It's like how Father would teach us hunting or building homes or how to skin animals. Only you learn other things now, people don't really hunt anymore by the way."

"How do they get food?" He asked.

"Farms," Freya told him before turning to Hope, ignoring the fact that he was still confused. "You're right, it's going to be a culture shock either way, but it's also throwing him in the deep end socially. How do you think other kids will react when he doesn't know what a toilet is?"

Hayley, who had been in the hallway with Dr. Saltzman, stuck her head in. "And Hope, you can't forget that at school you aren't a Mikaelson."

"I--"

"I know, you're always a Mikaelson but other people don't know that and if he just appears at the school as Henrik Mikaelson? It puts your secret in danger." she clarifies. Hope seemed to deflate at that comment and Henrik couldn't help but see that this conversation wasn't going in her favor.

"Then what? Do I just…" Henrik let his bitterness get the better of him. "Do I just die again? I'm sorry if my resurrection was inconvenient for all of you, but I can't exactly just go back where I came from!"

They all took a moment to look ashamed before going back to talking about him like he wasn't there. "We could call Klaus? He's off the grid but he should know, maybe…"

Henrik sighed moving over to sit by Hope. "Thanks for trying," he mumbled.

"I wish they'd just… I wish they'd listen to how stupid they sound. Dad isn't going to…" she seemed so frustrated, and yet the spell she was doing to keep Rebekah in the room wasn't suffering. Henrik wondered if his mother could have done that.

She sighed deeply. "I think you'd like school. I mean I don't know you but The Salvatore School is really the only place to learn magic. Not to mention you wouldn't be the first person there a bit out of the 21st century. There are some vampires that were desiccated for a long time so we have some pretty good history classes, too."

"It sounds cool." He nods

"I'm sorry about this. Them all trying to find a place and not seeing that… that it's hurting you."

"Not your fault. I was always a bit out of place since I was younger than them. Mother always kept me close, even when father should have started teaching-- schooling-- me, she…" something he had said made Hope smile, he didn't want to tell her that his mother kept him close only to make sure he wouldn't somehow steal magic. That would only make his old life seem worse and it wasn't really. He had a good life. "I know they loved me. Love me. It's just different… and I'm sure dying didn't help."

She chuckled despite the serious topic. "Yeah, dying. How dare you die?"

"It was my fault. I mean-- I knew wolves were dangerous on full moons and I wanted to see them anyway." He shrugged trying to remember why he wanted that. Even if it was only hours ago for him, the feeling of claws ripping through his neck and torso had blinded him to the fascination he once had.

"My mother's pack can control the turn if you wanted to see it still."

Henrik flinched. "Maybe some other time… but I don't think so."

There was a comfortable silence between them as they watched the adults bicker. They had moved away from arguing about Henrik's future and were instead complaining about Nik's 'going-off-the-deep-end.'

A realization hit Henrik and he turned to Hope once more, almost embarrassed to ask. "By the way-- What's a toilet?"

He could tell she was trying not to laugh at him and she was failing. But he didn't really care.

* * *

"The school can support him without putting Hope in danger." Caroline Forbes-Salvatore was amazing, especially considering the angered faces of his siblings and Hayley. Hope was looking at Caroline like she was hanging the moon in front of her. Henrik tried not to be hopeful, tried not to look too hopeful but it seemed she had enough for them. "It's really as simple as not telling anyone he's a Mikaelson. It's not as if anyone would recognize him, and we can say he's a heretic to explain the fact that we're putting him in history classes with vampires and magic classes with witches."

"Henrik isn't a witch though," Rebekah said confused. Henrik looked up at her guiltily. "Wait, you are? Why didn't I know?"

"Because Mother is a bitch," Kol said. "I thought we had at least established that." Henrik tried not to look surprised that Rebekah nodded. Kol, who had always been annoyed at their mother for not teaching him magic, was always a step away from hatred. Bekah though? What could their mother have done to poison Bekah against her?

"I don't think this is a good idea," Freya said from behind him.

Ms. Forbes-Salvatore didn't seem phased. "We have dedicated ourselves to be a place for all of the supernatural. We do like to have the parents or families approval and their acknowledgment of their child's needs. That isn't always possible. So, at times, we take the child's want and need for a safe environment over the parents' disapproval."

"That doesn't seem good at all," Hayley grumbled. He could tell that she was uncomfortable, whether that was with Caroline in the room or the idea of a parents wishes not being taken into consideration he didn't know. "Kids don't always know what's best for them."

"I was turned when I was seventeen. My mother was actively killing vampires. I couldn't exactly tell her, even when later she would accept me. My father, on the other hand, never did. He hated vampires to the point that he would rather die than become one." she said calmly looking over at Hayley. "Parents don't always want what's best for their kid either. If I remember correctly your fos--"

"That is different. He has a family familiar with the supernatural in a positive way." Freya said.

Rebekah and Kol had become curiously silent.

"And yet." He said. "They don't accept--"

Kol stood up straighter. "That’s not it. Not at all. For a thousand years we would have done anything to get you back--"

"But you didn't and it obviously wasn't very hard if two child witches could do it." He wanted to let himself be angry but the look on Rebekah's face wouldn't allow it. "Okay, it's not that you aren't familiar with the supernatural or even that you can't accept me. It's-- it's that you aren't familiar with me anymore." They both looked ashamed but they didn't try to correct him. "You don't know me anymore and I don't know you. I-- we're family. We will always be family. But maybe, it's complicated? And you both have changed so much that… you don't need a little brother anymore."

Bekah started crying silently, which seemed to surprise the rest of the room, but not him. He had seen her cry just yesterday, he had hugged her and told her that everything would get better. He told her that he would always be there to be her little brother, he couldn't protect her like the others but he could always listen. And then he died and made himself a liar. He couldn't even hug her now. "I still need you… I still need someone… something. And it seems like that's what this school could give me."

She nodded weakly.

Kol looked like he wanted to disagree but closed his eyes instead. "I wish everything hadn't changed," he said but it didn't sound like Kol and he knew it was a lie.

Henrik wanted to tell them it was okay, he wanted it to be okay, he wanted it all to be that simple. But it wasn't so he said nothing and neither did anyone else. Hope moved over to hug him and he tried to pretend it was the same as before, that they were still the same family. But they weren't.

"I'll go get the paperwork," Caroline said before turning to walk out of the room. Hayley followed her.

"It's gonna be okay." he heard Hope whisper in his ear.

And he knew she was lying but he thought maybe it was right all the same.


	2. Hope I

Hope Mikaelson was irrationally happy for the first time since-- well, ever. She had never been this _irrationally_ happy. Not even when she was seven and she had a family, her family because that wasn't irrational. The irrational part is- nothing had really changed. Henrik was here and he was family, but he was in classes below her and she wasn't supposed to be his family, they weren't even allowed to be friends until they met around the school. Because she was Hope _Marshall_. And he was Henry _Richardson_. So, even though she finally had family in Mystic Falls, at the boarding school, she could actually see him. She was happy despite this because it wasn’t like her Mom or Aunt Freya were here to stop her from trying to find him.

So, she stuck out of her room. There were curfews, nine o'clock for her age group, but she snuck out to find Henrik's room. They hadn't told her where it was because they knew she wouldn't listen to 'you have to act like you met at the school,' it didn't even make sense! She could act without having to cross paths with him 'organically.'

So she skulked around the boys' dorm until she found the name, Henry Benoit. She knew where his room was and he was a Crescent so he would answer her questions. What she hadn't expected was to find Henry Richardson's name there, too. She smiled and knocked. Henry came to the door, a confused expression and his floppy hair falling into his eyes. "Hey Henry," Hope said happy to find an _almost_ organic meeting with Henrik. "I was wondering what you were up to lately, my mom wanted me to ask."

He nodded nervously, eyes wide, "Yeah, yeah, I'm good…" He just sort of stood there in the doorway blocking her sight.

"Could I come in? It's after curfew and I wanted to talk for a while." Hope said quietly looking both ways.

"I have a roommate now. I don't want us to--"

Henrik's voice cut him off. "No, let her in! It's cool."

Henry looked over his shoulder at him and then back at Hope. "I won't be that long, I just need to ask you some stuff." He shrugged moving out of the doorway, letting her in. She had seen his dorm before and it looked mostly the same, the only difference being that instead of piles of books and dirty laundry on the extra bed-- Henrik sat there. "Hi, I'm Hope Marshall." She smiles holding out her hand in greeting.

He smirks, "Henry Richardson."

She looked between the two 'Henrys' trying to look surprised. "That’s not confusing."

Henry answered for him, "Yeah, he says that Hen Rick is an old nickname if that helps."

"Henrik," he corrected finding the drawn-out name strange. She could hear the difference but doubted Henry could.

"Didn't I say that?"

"Close enough."

He shrugged again looking at the floor and kicking some clutter under his bed. "Sorry. So, what did you want to ask?"

Hope paused, not having expected to get this far, "Mom just wants to make sure you're still turning every now and then. If you don't you could get irritable."

"I know," He nodded. Henry looked so unexplainably sad.

"What's wrong?" She asked feeling a bit bad, having come here just to find Henrik.

"Jedd's being a dick still," Henry said sitting down on his bed with a loud squeak of the mattress. "It's weird being the only werewolf not in the school pack… not to mention I'm on the scrawny side."

She smiled sadly at him. "Even if your scrawny your still stronger than most of them because you’re a Crescent. Show off and they won't bother you as much." Hope knew he wouldn't actually take her advice, Henry was never one for conflict and was terrified of Jedd. She would have to try to work something out for him, she was far from scared of Jedd, but then her Mom would be mad.

"I might be a Crescent but they're a whole pack."

"A pack run by a 13-year-old, that can only turn on a full moon, doesn't even have control then." She counted out the flaws in the school pack one by one. "just because they have number's doesn't mean anything."

"How do you figure that?" Henrik asked his eyes revealed a sheen of fear and Hope remembered that he died when a pack of werewolves attacked him. She wanted to kick herself for the statement.

"I -- I mean--" she stuttered a bit at Henrik before turning back and addressing Henry. "I'm a Crescent, too, okay. They might not know that but I am your pack. Numbers don't matter because you have the strength of a wolf all the time and you have my magic to protect you."

Henry shrugged. "You can't be there all the time… 

Henrik looked a bit confused, almost in pain at the thought of his next statement. "I'm not a werewolf. I don't know much about packs but I could help, too. You seem cool and they're…" he considered his words for a second looking over at her. "Assholes?"

She smiled at the slight question in his tone, she hadn't seen him in two days and he was already picking up 21st-century slang. She'd have to text Kol, he'd be proud. "Yeah! See-- you have people who will help you out. We might not be there all the time but if we kick their ass once they might back off a bit."

Henry shrugged. "Maybe… Thanks for checking on me, by the way."

Hope was hit by another wave of guilt at not initially coming here for him, she would have to keep a closer eye on him in the future. "We’re pack, no thanks necessary."

"By the way, aren't you not supposed to tell other people about the untriggered werewolf thing?" he said his eyes flickering in-between Henrik and her.

She tensed up for a second, staring at them with wide eyes. It was so annoying that she couldn't just tell Henry they already knew. "Shit. I wasn't even thinking about that…"

"It's not like I'll tell," Henrik said pushing her mistake out of the way. "I'm like _really_ new here. I can’t go around making enemies, your secret is safe with me."

She tilted her head a bit to the side _Interesting logic, very Mikaelson logic._ She smiled at him, never more happy to have a small part of her family at school. But she should go to sleep, she reluctantly tells them, "I should head back to my dorm…"

"Do you not have a roommate?"

Henry answered for her. "Hope's dad donated a bunch of money to the school, so she gets special treatment."

She laughed, "That is not why! You didn't have a roommate until like a day ago, some people just don't have roommates!"

"I kinda thought that was like _extended_ special treatment because I know your Mom."

Henrik smirked, "Sounds like special treatment to me."

"You shut up." she pointed at him trying not to chuckle at the turn in the conversation. "What happened to not wanting to make enemies?"

"We're just speaking the truth." Henry gives her an innocent look putting his hands up in surrender. They were corrupting him. He never would have been that sarcastic at the beginning of the semester.

* * *

Lizzie was particularly petulant this week when she barged into Hope's meeting with Dr. Saltzman. "I did all the work! And Hope still  gets all the credit!"

"Didn't Josie do at least part of the work?" Hope asked looking at the other twin standing in the doorway awkwardly. Hope always appreciated Josie, they weren't friends but they both sort of let each other be. Lizzie wasn't exactly on board with this silent agreement. Josie gave a small shake of her head.

"Well, yeah. But it was my idea! I should get credit!" She stomped her foot hard on the floor a light orange glow pulling magic up with her anger. Hope could see this wasn't going to end well.

"There is no credit." Dr. Saltzman insisted looking in between all three of the girls, trying to defuse the situation diplomatically. "And Lizzie that plan, while it turned out okay, was extremely dangerous. There are a lot of people buried in those woods that aren't friendly."

 _A lot of people that he buried in those woods_ went unsaid. They all read his account of Mystic Fall's interaction with the supernatural, Hope had even read Stefan Salvatore's old journals. There were a lot of people in that wood that he and Caroline and Sheriff Donavan and the Salvatores made enemies of and killed over the years. Hope remembered Bonnie Bennett's lecture last year about Silas and Qetsiyeh and the dangers of Expression. Was Silas buried in the woods? Maybe.

"Of course there is credit! She gets to have weekly meetings with you and we don't! Because there's credit." She wined her hands clenching into fists. Hope rolled her eyes. She did _get_ to have weekly meetings with the Headmaster, just like she _got_ to have to biweekly meetings with the school psychologist. They might not say it but they always treated her like she was a step away from the deep end and it seemed like everyone but Lizzie could see it. The bookcases started to shake in every corner of the room. "It's not fair!"

"We have dinner together every night and you know that you can come to me whenever you want to talk…" He said looking the bookcases cautiously. His desk started to shake, too.

Hope grabbed her water bottle. _If anyone was going to jump into the deep end it would be Lizzie,_ she thought to herself. Josie came up to put a hand on her twins shoulder, trying to calm her down.

"But we don't get to talk about the school! I want to help." She brushed Josie's had off and crossed her arms indignantly.

"I don't get to help with the school much," Hope said before she realized she probably shouldn't intervene in this family debate. "It was just the globe and--"

"That's helping! Ugh!" She turned on her heel and stopped out of the room. The shaking stopped but one of the Salvatore School coffee mugs shattered. An empty one thankfully.

Josie hesitated near the door looking between her father and Hope. "Sorry… but she is kinda right. You and Mom don't talk about the school at all with us and the school is like… the only thing you do." She let her statement hang in the room, it made a lot more sense than her sisters yelling. "I know you can't tell us everything, but would it be the worst thing in the world to let us help some of the time?"

Dr. Saltzman got a pained look on his face before he nodded. "I'll see what I can set up with your mother." Hope wondered if he was lying.

Josie smiled and came further into the room to give him a quick hug, making Hope feel a little more awkward. "Thanks, Dad."

She gave a quick nod to Hope before exiting the office closing the door behind her.

They both stared at each other for a second, kind of unsure if they should discuss the previous conversation or just start talking about the week. He sighs shuffling papers around on his desk, "Sorry about that."

She shrugged looking over at the broken coffee mug tempted to pick up its pieces and try to put it back together. Maybe later. "All good."

"So, how is your uncle doing?" he asked. Hopes nose scrunched up at the word 'uncle' even though it was technically right.

"He's good. He and Henry seem to get along which is nice, they both could probably use the friends."

"Good." he nodded looking back at the papers on his desk. "I was thinking of setting up some more specific lessons for him. Since he is a siphon he might need some more specific help with control. Lizzie and Josie, as you heard, would probably love to help." He chuckled.

Hope nodded but silently questioning if _Lizzie_ should be teaching anyone control. "Yeah, he might like that." She felt weird speaking for him, they had only really met five days ago and for two of those days, they couldn't even talk. "I think we need to teach him about cell phones. I know we're going in order with some technology but it's impossible to avoid and he acts weird around them."

Dr. Saltzman gave a stern look. "You do realize phones are not permitted on school grounds."

"A rule that everyone _definitely_ follows," Hope rolled her eyes, at his frustration. "It's unrealistic to expect us not to have them. It’s a boarding school, even the parents don't want us to follow that rule."

"It's still a rule…" he grumbled under his breath. "Okay, we'll have to move up some of those lessons. There's just so much to cover, a thousand years, I can't imagine everything that has changed in that time. I have a feeling he'll probably still be catching up years from now just because of the things we--I'll forget to set up lessons for."

"I think it'll work out," she said calmly, letting the awkwardness the twins' left fall out of the room. "I can set up astral projection again so Kol and Rebekah can help."

Dr. Saltzman nodded again. "Did Freya and your mother make it back okay?"

"Yup." she was still annoyed at them for trying to push Henrik out of her life. She understood that they wanted her safe but shouldn't they want him safe, too? He's their family, too.

"We need to set up some training sections for you," he said seeing her irritation. They had been trying to start building up her physical training as an outlet for control and the general aggression of being an untriggered werewolf. She liked the idea, part of her was even excited about it, but they were finding it hard to find someone to train her without telling them her whole life story. "I could probably do it myself for a while, you might be somewhat stronger than me but you don't have the technique yet."

Hope shrugged, she didn't mind the idea but she knew that the twins would hate it. She was not looking forward to Lizzie blaming her for taking up more of their father's time. "Whatever works--"

The door opened cutting her off. Ms. Forbes- Salvatore walked in with an old book in her hands, eyes wide. When she saw Hope she tried to hide her worried expression. "Sorry! I should have knocked or checked your schedule."

"Honestly, this week is a bit hectic. If you wouldn't mind we could just talk it over next week?" Dr. Saltzman said jumping up to grab the book the headmistress was holding, all Hope could see was the strange almost mechanical pattern on it. Was it a grimoire? She had seen all of the grimoires in the library but for some reason, this one seemed different. Important.

She shrugged looking in between them suspiciously. "Yeah, I guess…" She pulls up all of her belongings before looking over at the coffee mug. "I could fix that by the way." Both of  Dr. Saltzman and Ms. Forbes--Salvatore look at her with wide eyes, like they had been caught doing something wrong. Hope could tell that they didn't realize she was talking about the mug, she wasn't going to correct their mistake. If she could see what they were nervous about maybe she actually help.

"I don't know what you mean. We--" He said a bit overly defensive only increasing her curiosity.

"It's okay. We have it under control."

Hope tried not to look to disappointed and instead pointed to the shattered ceramics. "So you're just going to leave it there?"

The Headmistress didn't falter for a second, "Don't worry about it we can throw it out." she gave Hope a smile. "I think you should teach Henrik about computers-- I just saw him in the library looking over everyone's shoulders in awe at their laptops."

Hope looked back at Dr. Saltzman with a fake smile, "I told you so."

She went over to the door still worried about what that book might mean. Hope needed to stay focused. She had a family that needed her. She had family that actually wanted her help, finally.  So, instead of worrying about the grimoure, she left to find Henrik.


	3. Henrik II

The 21st Century was kicking Henrik's ass. He was getting a hang of slang but everything else was an absolute mystery. He couldn’t read English which meant he couldn’t do his homework for history until he learned and since the Headmaster had decided he had to learn in order he was confused by nearly everything he saw. He couldn’t even tell what was something humans built and what was something made with magic.

His ignorance also made him feel incredibly self-conscious because while he was going to classes with vampires for history and improving with his magic, he was also doing the same homework as a 5-year-old. What’s even worse is he knows he’s messed up already. He was going through some simple sentences in the library but he couldn’t help but get distracted by everyone else tapping away at these big bright screens—phones, that’s what Hope had called the smaller ones.

"So," Josie Saltzman appeared behind Henrik seemingly out of thin air. "I think we should be friends."

He tried not to look surprised or confused. "Friends?" He couldn't really remember having friends, he had Rebekah and he'd play with a few of the other people around the village but for the most part, his whole family kept to themselves. "Why?"

"Because you have Hope and I have Lizzie and it's-- we aren't exactly the top priority in our families." She said decisively. He was a bit upset to say she wasn't wrong.

"What do you mean 'I have Hope'? I just met her last week."

"I looked up who Esther was, I know who Hope really is and do you really think Henry Richardson is a good alias for Henrik Mika--"

"Hey, can we not give away my secret identity?" There was no point in denying it, she was right.

"And all of that's not mentioning that you need my help. Well, me and Lizzie but still. You're a siphon, we're siphons and together we are the only siphons that we all currently know about in the whole world!"

"Kol said he'd look for more. Apparently, he travels a lot."

"Your brother Kol? Kol M--"

"Dude"

"You're right sorry... Dude."

"Did I use that wrong?"

"oh no. It just sounds weird with your accent."

"Oh." He nodded looking back down at his book. "So, what do friends do?"

"I don’t really know… I guess I don’t have a lot of friends."

"Well, I have one I think? Two if Hope counts, but I’m guessing she doesn’t if you're not counting Lizzie…"

“They have to be our friends. They’re family.” She said sitting down in the chair next to him with a deep sigh.

He looks down at his workbook trying to connect the letters to words he knows. Fighting like cats and dogs he should know this. “Didn’t you just say that we should be friends because our families didn’t care about us?”

She shook her head quickly. “I didn’t say they don’t care, I meant… we’re not the most important one. Or we don’t need their attention as much.”

He looked up at her trying not to brood. “At least two people in my family aren’t really happy with me being alive…” Was sulking better than brooding?

Josie looked surprised and almost insulted. “That’s stupid.”

“They think it puts Hope in danger,” He shrugged looking down and tapping his pen across the alphabet coming to C with a picture of a Cat and D with a Dog. Okay, I can do this. I know how to say those he thought to himself what are the other words though?

“That’s stupid. Hope’s existence puts her in danger. They put her in danger. She’s been in danger her whole life. You are the least responsible for that,” she grabbed his book forcing him to meet her eyes. “You’ve been dead for a thousand years so you don’t have any enemies looking for an easy target— and Hope isn’t an easy target now anyway. That’s stupid.”

He rolled his eyes, like it being stupid changes anything. He goes to take the workbook back but she keeps it out of his reach. He sighed, “Okay. What about you? Why don’t you feel like… they care enough?”

Josie looked surprised at his question as if she hadn’t been interrogating him a second ago. “That’s… complicated. I can’t tell you.”

“So you know my family stuff but I can’t ask about yours?”

“I already knew that stuff, telling you about Lizzie would be betraying her trust. Plus, we’re not friends yet.”

He rolled his eyes but still understood why she wouldn’t tell him. “Okay… well, would a friend help me with my homework?”

“You’re homework?” She looked down at the bright yellow Highlights marked for a Pre K reading level. “Oh, I’m sorry. I hadn’t realized you were doing homework.”

“It’s fine,” He could feel his whole face going red with embarrassment. “You don’t need to—“

“No, I can help! That’s something friends do!” She moved her chair even closer to his and opened to the first page, then flipped to the second neither of them were filled in. She looked up at him confused.

“I skipped some, I wanted to get through it faster,” he admitted taking the book back and flipping to the page he had been on.

“Henrik,” She put her hand on the book stopping him from continuing. “Skipping the early steps only makes the rest harder.”

“I don’t know much about this century but I do know I’m too old to be filling these out. I should know it.”

“There is no should, you don’t know it. You can’t expect to learn it if you don’t actually try.”

“I am trying!” He might have said that a bit too loud causing a few people to turn around and shush them.

Josie picked the book out of his hands flipping it to the first page again. She whispered, “then let me help. We can even go somewhere else, it’ll help you if you can sound stuff out.”

Henrik shook his head. “I sound stupid when I do that.” He whispered looking down at his shoes.

“Fine, I guess you could just never learn how to read. How stupid would that be?” She said sitting back in her chair and crossing her legs.

“That’s not fair, you shouldn’t—“

“It’s not fair but it’s true.” She said exasperated by his stubbornness.

Henrik let out a long sigh before getting up. “Fine. Let’s go.”

“Yay!” Josie squealed before jumping up and dragging him out of the library.

* * *

“Okay, so this is a phone.” Hope held up a small rectangular screen. “But this is a Laptop. They both have access to the internet which is gonna be a big help once you can use it.” She pointed over to her desk where a large white screen was on Google the only word he could make out. What’s a Google? 

Henrik was lying upside down on Hope’s bed trying not to fall asleep. Everything is so soft now and he seemed to be tired all the time. “When can I do that?”

Hope shrugged before getting up to sit across from him, bringing the laptop with her. “When you can read and write a bit better. Then you can type questions into this search bar and it’ll find an answer for you.”

“This is all so complicated. I wish I had stayed dead.” He whines throwing his arm over his face.

Henrik feels Hope tug at his foot from her spot on the bed, he moves his foot off the pillow and moves so he’s propped up on his elbow looking at her. She has a pained look on her face “Ummm… no? That's terrible. You… I know it’s hard but I also know you’re catching up a lot faster than you think you are!”

“I don’t know how to use those shower things. They’re always too hot or too cold.” Henrik sits up straighter and waves his hand in the direction of the bathrooms.

Hope giggled throwing him one of her pillows. “That’s not a you problem, that’s a the building is old and plumbing is weird problem.”

“I still can’t read,” he said calmly letting the pillow hit him in the face

“Which you’re in classes for.” She points out.

“I’m also in other classes though. Classes that I can’t do the work for because I can’t read.”

She pauses, her face blank for a second. “Right…" But still, Hope's smile returned quickly. "Well, you just proved you’re smarter than the Headmaster because Saltzman definitely didn’t think that through.”

Henrik smiled a little to passing her pillow back to her. “It’s not funny. I’m an idiot.”

“So is everyone.”

“That—“

“You should start talking to Emma,” she said quietly interrupting him and closing her laptop.

“Who?”

“They never introduced you? She was in the car when Sheriff Donavan picked you up from the woods.”

He vaguely remembers the witch standing next to hope two weeks ago. So much had happened since then it feels like a lifetime. “Oh, yeah, I remember. Why would I talk to her?”

“I can’t believe no one— she’s the school psychologist. I go to her and so do a lot of the students.”

“What do you do with her?”

Hope shrugs. “I don’t know… you talk. I mean I do know because I go but I don’t… everybody is different”

“My father would never let me do that.” Henrik thinks back to the time Father had caught him crying after Klaus came home from the woods half dead from a beating. He remembers being dragged into their hut and every word his of explanation being met with a lashing of Father's whip.

Hope placed a hand on his shoulder pulling him out of the memory. "You know-"

“He’s dead. I know.” He nodded but then looks away. “The point stands. I’m not supposed to be weak.”

“You’re not.”

“I am though. I died and now I’m stupid”

“Henrik. You’re not weak. Half of the people at this school have died and you’re not stupid, you’re learning. It’s not weak to need help.” She pulled him forward into an awkward hug one-armed hug.

**Author's Note:**

> I have always wanted them to consider or even mention Henrik in the show.
> 
> I also don’t think that siphons should be only in the Gemini Coven and I wanted there to be a reason Esther didn’t resurrect Henrik.
> 
> This is going to start about two years before the Originals final season and four years before Legacies season one.
> 
> Hope is 14  
> Henrik is 13  
> Lizzie and Josie are 12  
> They are going to be the only point of view characters, but Henrik will be the main character.
> 
> Ships will come, I don’t know for sure what they will be at this moment. 
> 
> Let’s be honest... Henrik is basically an OC because there is no content for him but I’m trying anyway. In my story he is gay. He isn’t entirely in tune with his sexuality— half because he’s young and half because I don’t think that’s something he would know was allowed. Mikael seems like a pillar of toxic masculinity and I will be having that upbringing effect him.  
> Josie is obviously canonically pansexual (yay!)  
> I really want Hope and Lizzie to be in the community as well and it’s my story now so I get to.
> 
> As for canon ships season one? They will be kept canon for now. Probably not forever and definitely not in the foreground of the story. 
> 
>  
> 
> First and foremost this is going to be a Mikaelson family story. I really really wish they could show that Hope had a support system outside of the school and more regularly acknowledged that she has Freya and Keelin and Vincent and Rebekah and Marcel and Davina and Kol. 
> 
> Also, I know Henrik probably wouldn't be able to speak English, but I don't want to deal with that so I'm not going to.


End file.
